Saturday, September 21, 2013

‘I TOLD the press last year that 2013 was going to be the year of Fleetwood Mac,” comes the nervous confession of Stevie Nicks, the band’s vocalist and songwriter. “I was just hoping with all my heart that this big statement was gonna come true!”

Certainly, the UK hasn’t made a liar out of Nicks who, at the age of 65, is about to embark on a headline trip around the country’s biggest arenas. Nor, in fact, has the rest of the world: the band’s biggest selling album, 1977’s Rumours, found itself nearing the top of several worldwide charts again this year – adding hundreds of thousands more sales to the 40m copies shifted since its release.

Nicks is still a blonde stunner, and it’s hard to believe she’s preparing to celebrate her 40th year with the group in 2014; in that same year, Fleetwood Mac – completed by Mick Fleetwood (drums), John McVie (bass) and Lindsey Buckingham (vocals, guitar) since the departure of Christine “Perfect” McVie in 1998 – will reach the grand age of 47.

They lost years to drugs, in-fighting and line-up changes, but since the Anglo-American blues-rock band dropped to a four-piece they’ve seemed unstoppable, their international live shows grossing millions at the box office. And that’s, in part, because of the longevity of their back catalogue; Albatross, Go Your Own Way and Nicks-penned Dreams and Rhiannon have endured through musical fads and fashions.

Of course, Nicks has helped her prediction of 2013 success along by stalling the band’s return to the live stage. “It’s just smart to keep us out of the spotlight for three years, she says.

“Everyone went along with it. And now they all know it was really a great idea because we were gone long enough that it was us coming back.”

There was, too, the not-so-small matter of Nick’s own solo album – In Your Dreams, her first in a decade and recorded with The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart – and accompanying documentary which she felt needed her focus. And then there was personal tragedy; Nicks lost her mother and says the experience rocked her to the core.

“I didn’t go (to the studio). I didn’t want to go,” she recalls. “But it wasn’t just that – I didn’t want to go anywhere. I didn’t leave the house for almost five months.

“And then I got pneumonia. With my pneumonia and my mother’s death I watched the entire first season of Game Of Thrones! That certainly took my mind off everything.”

Nicks is a woman used to resolving her personal problems in public. When her long-term relationship with Buckingham ended, she briefly dated Fleetwood. Love was even in the air with pop legend Prince. “I wanted to work with Prince. And I was smart enough to know that if you start having a relationship with somebody, you’re never gonna work with them; the romantic thing’s gonna take over,” she recalls.

“Prince is such a strange and beautiful guy. But we lived in two different worlds. That’s when I was totally a drug addict and Prince is straight as an arrow.

“He would bring me cough medicine when I was sick and then I’d ask for another spoon of it, and he’d go, ‘I didn’t come here to start you on a new drug!’.”

That wasn’t a battle Nicks wanted either. “You realised that all that recreational/non-addictive [idea] was bull when it started to become more important than music. And it did.

“And heroin’s a lot quicker road to that! It’s gonna become more important than your music, or your acting, or your amazing career that you have ahead of you. You’re just throwing it away.”

It’s not an experience she hopes to repeat – nor could afford to with the demands of her current life.

She has always been a night owl, and although Nicks would be the first to admit that she’ll sit up chatting into the night after the rest of her fellow Fleetwood Mac members have sloped off to bed to beat the jet-lag, she’s putting the reputation of her legendary rock band and award-winning solo career first.

“Honestly, rock bands that are 30 years old would baulk at this schedule and at the amount of songs we’re doing and the length of the show,” she says about the new tour.

“They would go, ‘You are kidding? Two hours and 40 minutes a night?’. When people in Manchester see the show they’re gonna be blown way!”

Stevie watching Game of Thrones is very sad. I read the other day she's actually written poems about the characters. Even more sad.

It's one of the worst shows on TV, poorly written, awful dialogue, and filled with fantasy cliche after cliche. That happens when there's no actual plot and no forward motion. The books are even worse, though. GRRM has to be the most successful terrible writer out there. His books read like a 12 year wrote them, and he lost the ability to control the story he started by page 2. Now it's just a meandering pile of garbage focusing on the shock-value sensationalist nonsense he's recycled over and over. I guess it's to mask the fact that he's talentless and incapable.

The fact that Stevie Nicks, a person who has written so many wonderful songs, and has publicly spoken about her love of the great writers and poets of our time, now writes material influenced by Game of Thrones and Twilight is pathetic.

What will be the inspiration for the next batch of songs?... Perhaps The Big Bang Theory, or 2.5 Men?

FLEETWOOD MAC NEWS ON FACEBOOK

In April, 2013 New York Times Author Anthony Bozza began working with legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood on his life story, which will span the entire history of the band that bears his name.

In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock 'n' roll since his teens.

The group Fleetwood Mac has sold over 140 million records worldwide, and they continue to attract a huge following, selling out their biggest arena tour ever in 2013, decades after their debut. Finally, the group's admirers will have a unique portrait of what made Mick and the rest of the group tick in the midst of their massive success and personal trials.

“Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987. One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story… They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken hearted and the survivors. These songs are the memories - the 24 karat gold rings in the blue box. These songs are for you,” commented Nicks.

Order '24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault

FLEETWOOD MAC 'TANGO IN THE NIGHT'

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(RELEASED MARCH 31, 2017)

Featuring the hits “Little Lies,” “Everywhere,” “Seven Wonders” and “Big Love,” this 30th anniversary collection is available in Deluxe- 1LP/3CD/1DVD, Expanded - 2CD, 1CD Remaster and Digital Download and on all streaming services.

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Christine was a guest on the Ken Bruce radio program on BBC Radio 2 and was featured each morning between Oct 7th and 11th choosing the "Tracks of My Years". Each day included a short interview clip with Christine along with her track choice and why. During the last day Christine revealed that she's currently working on new material and hopefully a forthcoming solo album saying its a return to her musical sound of the 70's.